Joy Junkies
Now something I mentioned at the end of 2024, is that we’ll be focusing on the topic of joy in 2025. We’ll be focusing on how we can bring much joy into our lives, our relationships, and the people in our city and world. So today we’re starting the new year with a new teaching series called Joy In Everything. It’s a series on a book of the bible called Philippians, and it’s a series about finding joy in daily life, which is something everybody wants. Both skeptics and believers want to have joy in life. We’re not entering 2025 hoping to have less joy; we’re entering 2025 hoping to have more joy. In fact our entire American civilization was built on a desire to have joy, to have happiness. The Declaration of Independence is about Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. I always find it interesting that they were like, “We’ll help you with Life. We’ll help you with Liberty. But when it comes to Happiness? Good luck with that one. You have to pursue that one.”
So the very foundation of our American civilization is built on this concept, this idea, this desire to pursue happiness, and we have all kinds of books and podcasts teaching us their solution to this endless pursuit of happiness. They’re teaching us their solution to this endless pursuit of joy that’s inside each of us. They’re like, “Here’s 3 steps to joy, 10 steps to joy, 10 steps to a better you in 2025.” In fact several years ago there was an article written by Men’s Health Magazine titled 759 Ways To Live A Perfect Life. But I guess the article wasn’t perfect, since it doesn’t exist anymore. They removed it, so you can’t even read it anymore. It’s just another example of a failed solution to end this endless pursuit of joy inside each of us. My point is everybody wants to find joy in life, but the problem is we’re often trying to find it in the wrong places. Our greatest hindrance to finding joy isn’t our circumstances, it’s that we’re trying to find joy in all the wrong places, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Philippians 1 and get into it. You can find Philippians in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Philippians 1:1-11. The title of the message is Joy Junkies, and the big idea of the message is we’re joy junkies, constantly pursuing joy in all the wrong places...Our greatest hindrance to finding joy in daily life is that we’re joy junkies, constantly pursuing joy in things that can’t ever satisfy us like Jesus can...
Here’s your context. Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul who was considered a highly educated religious man, who hated Jesus and anyone who was a follower of Jesus. In fact he hated Christians so much, he literally persecuted and killed them for their faith. But historically we know he ends up becoming a Christian after having an interaction with the resurrected Jesus while traveling to Damascus. After this his life becomes completely transformed! He goes from persecuting and killing Christians for their faith in Jesus, to becoming a Christian who’s persecuted and killed for his own faith in Jesus. Tradition tells us he died by decapitation, but before he died he wrote this book of the bible called Philippians. He’s writing it while sitting in a Roman prison not for a crime, but for his faith. As he’s sitting in prison facing the death penalty, one of the primary things he decides to write about is joy. He’s lost his life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, but the one thing he never lost is his joy. So let’s see what he says about finding joy in everything.
The Word:
Philippians 1:1-11 states, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice one of the first things Paul talks about is the grace and peace, that comes from God, that comes from Jesus. The reason this is such a big deal for Paul is because he knows he was once an enemy of Jesus. But he’s now received grace from Jesus which means he’s now at peace with Jesus. Paul’s reminding both the Philippians and us that when we receive grace from God, we get to enjoy a peaceful relationship with God. He’s reminding us that God has extended his grace and peace to us through Jesus dying for our sins on the cross, so we can be forgiven of our sins and enjoy a peaceful restored relationship with God. The reason a Christian always has access to joy, is because they always have access to God. They always have access to Jesus, because of the grace and peace of Jesus. This is why Paul’s still able to write a book on joy even though he’s in prison facing the death penalty. He’s like, “I’m innocent, in prison, and facing the death penalty, but I still have joy because I still have access to Jesus. I still have joy because of the grace and peace of Jesus.” Paul’s teaching us we can face struggles in life, but still have joy in life. We can be locked up in prison and lose access to everything we love in life, but still possess everything we need for joy because we have access to Jesus in daily life.
Again vs. 2, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy...” This is the first time Paul mentions the word joy in Philippians, but it won’t be the last time. In fact Paul uses the word joy or rejoice over 14 times in Philippians. The entire book of Philippians is only 4 chapters long, but he uses the words joy or rejoice over 14 different times, which tells us this is a major theme for this book. It’s very interesting considering he’s in prison facing the death penalty. But what’s even more interesting is that his first use of the word joy is connected to prayer. He says he's always praying with joy. It shows his level of joy is connected to his prayer life. It’s connected to him using his access to Jesus like we just discussed by spending time with Jesus in prayer. We can’t experience the kind of joy Paul had if we aren’t doing the same. We can’t experience the kind of joy Paul had if we aren’t using our access to Jesus, if we aren’t spending time with Jesus in prayer. What we’re learning from Paul here is that our level of joy is directly connected to our prayer life. The deeper your prayer life, the deeper your joy in life. Paul’s heart is full of joy because his perspective on life is being guided by prayer. Instead of letting his prison life affect his joy in Christ, he’s letting his joy in Christ affect his prison life. He’s praying and letting his joy in Christ speak into whatever suffering he’s going through in life. What challenges or prisons are you facing in life, where you’re struggling to find joy?...What challenges or prisons are you facing in life, that you need to take to Jesus in prayer like Paul did?...Instead of letting those challenges and prisons affect your joy in Christ, let your joy in Christ affect those challenges and prisons. Paul’s teaching us there’s a greater joy that exists in life, that can’t be taken away even when facing suffering situations in life. It’s a greater joy that’s found, by relying on a relationship with Jesus.
So one of the reasons many of us aren’t experiencing this greater joy, is because we aren’t praying and using our access to Jesus as often as we should. But the other reason we aren’t always experiencing this greater joy, is because we’re often relying on lesser joys that can be taken away from us. When our family, our career, and other things in life don’t turn out to be as joyful as we wanted, we start to become joyless. It’s because we made our family, our career, and those other things greater joys than God. If we viewed them as lesser joys they wouldn’t wreck us as much, because we know we still have greater joys in God. I mean you don’t get as upset over Chik-Fil-A being closed on Sundays, when you realize 4Rivers is now open on Sundays...You don’t get as upset over someone taking the lesser sirloin, when you realize there’s a greater filet for you...We need to remember the lesser sirloin joys in the world, are nothing compared to the greater filet joys God has for us. We become joyless when we mix this up, when we turn lesser joys into greater joys than God. It’s like Cyprian once wrote to his friend Donatus in the 3rd Century. Cyprian wrote, “This seems like a cheerful world Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see. I would see thieves on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds, and under all roofs misery and selfishness. It really is a bad world Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet, in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy, which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not…These people Donatus, are the Christians, and I am one of them.” Like Paul, Cyprian is saying he found a greater joy that’s more stable than the lesser joys of this world. He found a greater joy in Christ, that can’t ever be taken away by any suffering situations in life. Paul’s in prison, but he’s still filled with joy.
Again vs. 3, “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always praying with joy, for all of you in my every prayer, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Paul mentions another reason for his joy is because of the Philippians partnership in the gospel. It’s because of their gospel-centered friendship, their Christ-centered friendship. As humans we’re social beings who need friendships, relationships, community to thrive in life. We aren’t meant to thrive in isolation, we’re meant to thrive in relationships. When it comes time to breathe our last breath like Paul’s facing, we won’t be saying to the doctors, “Hey can you get my diploma and middle school trophies? I’d like to see them one more time before I die.” Nobody cares about seeing their diploma and trophies before they die. We care about seeing our friends, our family, the people we love! It’s because human relationships are way more important to us than those things, and Paul’s expressing that same thing to the Philippians. He's expressing how much joy he’s had in getting to have a gospel-centered friendship with them. Some scholars use an acronym to help remember what Paul’s saying in these first few verses. They say the secret to finding joy in daily life is to keep things in the same order Paul did using the acronym J.O.Y. It stand for Jesus, Others, Yourself. If you want to have joy in daily life, then you need to focus on loving Jesus and loving others, instead of just focusing on a self-centered love for yourself.
Vs. 6, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What Paul’s saying here is when the Lord starts a good work in us, he’ll carry it on to completion. Another way to put it is the Lord finishes what he starts in us. The theological term for this is called sanctification, and it’s where the Lord starts transforming your life into being more loving like Jesus as time progresses. You start growing in that J.O.Y. acronym, in loving Jesus and loving others instead of just loving yourself. Paul’s saying God starts that work, continues that work, and will complete that work. In school, you sometimes have incomplete homework. In your career, you sometimes have incomplete work projects. In your home, you sometimes have several incomplete home improvement projects. But in heaven, you’ll never be considered an incomplete project because God always finishes what he starts. He'll make sure he fulfills every single one of his promises in scripture, including this promise to finish the good transformative work he starts in those who put their faith in Jesus. So don’t get discouraged when you stumble in sin or struggle in life, because God is still working on you in those situations to help restore you and bring you to completion. God starts, continues, and will always finish seeing you through to completion. Pastor Kent Hughes states, “As I reflect on my fifty plus years in Christ, it’s indeed God who has kept me. It’s not my grip on God that has made the difference, but his grip on me. I’m not confident in my goodness. I’m not confident in my character. I’m not confident in my history. I’m not confident in my ‘reverend’ persona. I’m not confident in my perseverance. But I am confident in God.” What Paul and Hughes are saying is we can find hope and joy in knowing Jesus will finish what he’s started. We can find hope and joy in knowing Jesus will make sure we reach our final joyful destination in heaven with him. We haven’t arrived yet and sometimes the waiting is a grind, but in Christ your final joyful destination is certain.
Again vs. 6, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” Paul’s again implying that his joy comes from the grace of Jesus, and from his relationships with those who are partners in grace.
Vs. 8, “For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are superior, and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” Paul is encouraging the Philippians and us to keep growing, to keep striving at being pure and blameless like Christ, but notice he says our ability to do that comes from our daily reliance on Christ. He says it comes through Jesus Christ. He’ll see our lives through to completion, so we can enjoy eternal grace, peace, and joy, through Jesus Christ.
The big idea of the message is we’re joy junkies, constantly pursuing joy in all the wrong places...Our greatest hindrance to finding joy in daily life is that we’re joy junkies, constantly pursuing joy in things that can’t ever satisfy us like Jesus can...If you pursue joy in money, it’ll eventually fail you because you’ll never have enough or you’ll worry about losing it all...You can try pursuing joy in alcohol and drugs, but it’ll eventually fail you because when the buzz and high wear off, you’ll be left to face your struggles again...You can try pursuing joy in having a perfect marriage, a perfect family, a perfect career, 759 ways to live a perfect life, but eventually all those things will fail you because they’re lesser joys that aren’t meant to replace the greater joy of Jesus in our hearts. There’s nothing this world can offer us that can replace the greater eternal joy Christ offers us. C.S. Lewis states, “If I find in myself a desire which nothing in this world can satisfy, the best argument is I was created for another world.” If you find in yourself a desire nothing in this world can ever satisfy, it means you were created for another world. It means you were created for another joy. It means you were created for a greater joy than what this world is offering you.
What lesser joys have you been relying on more than you should?...What if Jesus has you here today so you can start off 2025 in the right direction, which is by shifting your focus away from those lesser joys and onto him as your greatest joy?...What needs to change in your daily life and routines, so you can focus more on prioritizing Jesus as your greatest source of joy?...What’s a small step you can take this week to start prioritizing Jesus more in your daily life, so you can truly find joy in your daily life? So you can truly find joy in everything, by pursuing Jesus in everything?...If Paul could find joy in his friendship with Jesus while sitting in a Roman prison back then, you can find joy in a friendship with Jesus while sitting in whatever joyless prison you’re facing today. Your greatest hindrance and my greatest hindrance to finding joy in daily life isn’t our circumstances, it’s that we’re trying to find joy in the wrong places. Paul’s circumstances weren’t great, but he still had joy because he found his joy in the right place. He found constant joy in Jesus, and you can too, if you seek Jesus as your greatest source of joy...Let’s pray...
Communion is a great reminder of this. It’s a great reminder for us to find our greatest joy in Jesus, who gave up his life for our life on the cross. He did this so we can enjoy daily life and eternal life in a joyful friendship with him. If you don’t believe he died for your sins on the cross, then please refrain from taking communion so you don’t go through the motions of this. Instead use this time to reflect on the message, and consider finding your joy in Jesus instead of in the lesser things of this world. Consider asking Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life today. For those of you who put your faith in Jesus we have three stations set up, and in a few minutes I’ll invite you to come forward to the station closest to you. If you have a gluten allergy, the table in the back has gluten free bread. When you come forward we’ll give you a piece of bread as a symbol of the body of Christ broken for your sins, and you’ll dip it in the cup of juice as a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for your sins. After that you can eat, drink, and head back to your seat to pray before we close in worship. So at this time let’s have those of you who are serving Communion start heading to your stations, as we prepare to remember the good news of Jesus...
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took some bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, and gave thanks for it saying “This is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done.” Respond to this good news by receiving and remembering. Receive his grace and peace for your life, and remember he’ll finish the joyful good work he started in you. Come as you feel led.